Nationality: United StatesExecutive summary: Congressman from South Carolina, 1853-60

Military service: Confederate Army (colonel, Jan-1862 to 2-Jun-1864)

With Congressman Laurence M. Keitt guarding his back, Preston S. Brooks used a metal-tipped cane to beat Senator Charles Sumner bloody and unconscious on the Senate floor. Brooks stopped only when his cane broke. It took Sumner three years to recover from his brain injury.